Saturday, August 1st isFood Day Canada – a chance to salute Canada’s favourite foods, farmers and all the people involved in our culinary experiences! Hail to the farmers, those who harvest fish and shell fish, those who get our foods to us fresh and safe, to the chefs and restaurateurs, the grocery stores and everyone in the food chain.
Buy Local. Eat Local. Shop sustainably. Let’s all get out of this year alive, well and still in business.
ANITA STEWART – Founder of Food Day Canada. Food Laureate, University of Guelph
Anita Stewart
Anita Stewart was a little girl selling beans on the side of the road. Who knew she would become the author of 14 cookbooks and founder of one of Canada’s most talked about culinary events.
Anita’s farming roots and farming smarts earned her a membership into the Order of Canada and the first interview on today’s Tasting Room Radio. Thank You Anita!
CHEF ABUL ADAME – The Kitchen at da Silva Winery (Naramata Bench)
“Mexican born, never cooked back home, moved to Canada 20 years ago. “Throughout my first years as a newcomer, the thought of a restaurant job was an “easy thought” for a start up. but, it seemingly became a life style long term commitment and a true addictive passionate affair to me.”
I’ve known Abul since 2007 when we moved to the Naramata Bench.
My first question to the locals was – most interesting chef?
When the third neighbor said Abul Adame..that did it.
At the time he was cooking up a storm at Amante Bistro in downtown Penticton.
Loved the room and ecstatic about the kitchen. The experience was head and shoulders above 90% of the bistros in the Okanagan.
Thankfully, Abul and The Kitchen are still one of the best Okanagan dining experiences.
The da Silva family is a Portuguese family who has been farming in the Okanagan for many years.
So it’s no surprise that Abul is cooking Portuguese tapas with Mexican Flair.
When was the last time you saw a chef come out of the kitchen, take 2-3 minutes to get to know you..go back to the kitchen and cook to your personalities and tastes. Every table.Every night.
When I told Adul I was still recommending his dining room he actually said
“please. No more. I can’t keep up. The place is very busy.”
Its old school here.
Don’t write..don’t text. Just phone and make a reservation.
If you get Abul..he’ll say they’re too busy. If you get staff, make a date.
One more quote from Abul
“you may like my food, you may not like my food – either way, I Thank You.
Jennifer Schell is a highly acclaimed food and wine writer, columnist, and former editor of BC Food & Wine Trails Magazine. Her three cookbooks, The Butcher, The Baker, The Wine & Cheese Maker (In the Okanagan & ‘By The Sea’) are Canadian bestsellers and have won numerous international awards.
She is also the co-founder/producer of Garagiste North Wine Festivals, an event celebrating BC’s small lot wine producers chosen as one of the Top Wine Festivals in the Word in 2015 by the London Financial Times.
Jennifer was also the founder of Soup Sisters (Kelowna), a charity organization that focuses on feeding the Women and children at the Kelowna Women’s Shelter and the youth on the streets.
Above all, she is a food, wine & culture leader.
Plus she is part of the Schell Family Winery with her two brothers.
This is not just a book filled with recipes. Each farming family has its own story.
And when you open their wines, the stories come spilling out. Generations of wines, harvests, long table dining, and every conceivable weather story.
Jenn knows it’s the stories, the people and the food that make wine a great experience.
Ned Bell and his wife Kate Colley have come full circle.
Ned grew up 20 minutes from Naramata Village. Kate met Ned on our veranda on The Bench
in 2008.
They married and had two sons.
They have both had outstanding careers. Ned through bigger and bigger kitchens. Kate through her own successful marketing and media company.
They last worked together at The Four Seasons in Vancouver.
Then over two years ago Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s beaten it back with an amazing team of professionals.
(even as I write, she’s going through more treatment in Vancouver)
They decided to come full circle and return to the Naramata Bench. Specifically, the tiny hamlet of Naramata.
With their partners Maria Wiesner and Paul Hollands, they bought the Naramata Heritage Inn at the end of the main street. Over the years the Inn has represented a beloved base of community and become a destination for visitors. With 12 vintage rooms above and a dining room and bar below, the inn is surrounded by beautiful gardens. Trust me. The rooms are a memory you’ll treasure always.
Ned, Kate, and the new owners bring world-class culinary experience to the kitchen, which is all about sourcing and celebrating local.
The Inn will deliver a proudly “Naramatian” experience. From produce to proteins, the menus will be built around the best local growers and artisans in Naramata and the Valley. It will showcase the true depth and breadth of award-winning wines produced by British Columbia’s winemakers.
Keep in mind, you’re surrounded by 20-30 wineries and a lake that goes on forever.
I’ll take some liberties with the actual words but I recently remember coming across these two headlines that seemed to define the profile of Margo Price.
Margo Price is here to save Rock.
Margo Price. The next superstar of Country.
There’s some truth in both but if you ask Margo she may say “I’m somewhere in between”
With her new album, That’s how rumors get started Margo takes a stance somewhere between Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.
Smart move.
We’ve lost Tom and Bruce finds himself releasing live Broadway sets, modern country, and future solo works.
Somebody has to claim that sound and those audiences. Why not Margo Price.
She’s a fan of Janis Joplin and Linda Ronstadt. Two amazing singers who could not be wrapped up in a neat box.
They did what they did and you could come along or maybe reconnect down the road.
Margo is outspoken, passionate about her songs and music, and possesses one of the best voices.
We covered a lot of ground in this interview.
Tracks from the album, losing one child, discovering she was pregnant as she started the album, the personal cost of endless days on the road, and her place in music.
Touched on Black Lives Matter and the whole Lady A mess.
And the album? Flat out, her best yet.
Note: The complete interview can be heard at MulliganStew Podcast
(Subscribe at Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts)
We pay tribute to the late Peter Green..the co-founder of the original Fleetwood Mac. Brilliant guitarist and songwriter.
In a normal year, just about now, I’d get in the car and drive south on Vancouver Island to Cobble Hill and meet the Cowichan Winemakers on a Crush Pad.
As we all know 2020 is not a normal year. A historic pandemic has a way of shutting everything down and threatening everyone’s health and life.
How then to organize and pull off a wine festival?
With the assistance and guidance of Tourism Cowichan, the 13 wineries of the Cowichan Valley invite you to Discover Cowichan Wine.
This year the wine festival is taking place for the entire month of August.
Due to Covid19, there will be no opening party however participants can purchase a ticket for $20 which gives them a festival glass to bring to each winery. Tasting fees are waived and if you get a stamp at each tasting on your passport you then qualify for a draw at the end of August for a case of Cowichan Wine.
The wineries have been preparing to receive guests in a safe and healthy environment. Physical distancing, sanitized tastings plus safety for the guests and employees.
There is so much to celebrate in The Cowichan. A new Sub GI designation. Cowichan now can appear on all wine labels made with Valley fruit.
And the recent purchase of Unsworth by Barbara Banke and Julia Jackson (Napa/Sonoma).
This is our first Zoom interview with the Cowichan Wineries. The audio and zoom video can be streamed on our website.
I asked our winemaking guests to highlight two wines they’re pouring…
Jill Nessel – Tourism Cowichan.GM
Mike Nierychlo – Emandare Vineyard (Rose and Pinot Noir)
Brent Rowland – Averill Creek/Joue (Joue White and Red)
Paul Bruner – Blue Grouse. The owner (Estate Pinot Gris and Quill Rose)
Blue Grouse
Dan Wright – Unsworth Vineyards (Allegro and Rose)
Paul Busnardo – Divino (Trebbiano and Everything red blend)
Lorin Inglis – Enrico.GM (Charme De Lile Sparkling and Tempest Ortega)
Xavier Bonilla – Cherry Point (Pinot Noir and Siegerrebe)
Chef and Author Bill Jones – Deerholme Farm in The Cowichan.
Jill Nessel Tourism Cowichan
Dan Wright Unsworth
Bill Jones
Brent Rowland Averill Creek & Joue
A Question. What goes best with Cowichan Wine? Cowichan Food!
And who better to add a food component to this special than Chef Bill Jones at Deerholme Farm.
You know Bill from his dozen or so books..The Deerholme Foraging Book. The Deerholme Mushroom Book.
Bill Jones is a passionate supporter of local food communities, a founding member of FarmFolk/CityFolk, SlowFood Vancouver Island, and was a key organizer of the BC Canadian Chefs Congress.
If you’re heading to the festival, check out Bills Thursday small dinners and special dinner Aug 15th (Mediterranean) & 22nd (Korean BBQ)
Or sign up for the always sold out foraging classes in The Fall.
“With a script by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy, based on The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor by Jake Tapper, the film emerges as an action thriller which never loses sight of the futility of the war being fought.
You could also watch this intensely powerful movie, which Lurie directs with a keen understanding of the mechanics of battle and an overriding humanism that puts flesh-and-blood on the bones of the tragic story being told about Bravo Troop 3-61 CAV, one of the most decorated units of the 19-year conflict”
Peter Travers Rolling Stone
Rod Lurie attended West Point and served four years as a combat arms officer. Started the Broadcast Film Critics Assn with Joey Berlin.
Then turned his attention to writing and directing in TV and film.
It all came together when he wrote and directed the Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated The Contender.
This conversation about his latest film The Outpost is a reflection of my admiration for Rod and all he’s done. The Outpost plays to all of his strengths., the characters of the real soldiers involved and honoring the men who battled that day. His toughest critics were the families of those who died. It was vital that they saw their loved ones portrayed as the warriors they were.
Hour Two is a collection of audio highlights from the years spent at the Calgary Folk Festival
And who better to co-host than our own Elliott Garnier.
After all, he’s the on-site producer and procurer for The Stew at these festivals.
Kris Kristofferson talks about his friendship with Johnny Cash.
Guests interviews and performances Include
Lee Fields Art Bergman Blue Rodeo concert and Jim Cuddy Interview (with the Bentall boys) Fishbone The Deep Dark Woods
Hour One, the donor Michael Witt has asked us to play artists from previous Edmonton Folk Festivals.
From 2000 – Jackson Browne/Wilson Pickett/Linda Tillery
From 2013 – Amy Helm/The Avett Brothers/Mighty Clouds of Joy/Carolina Chocolate Drops
From 2005 – Ruthie Foster/Mavis Staples
and to end the show – Blackie and the Rodeo Kings/kdlang/Van Morrison/Doug Sahm
August 8th we’ll present a full two hours of highlights from past Edmonton Folk Festivals.
Colin Cripps is one of those musicians/artists who may never receive the full spotlight the lead singers get but if you ask that artist in the spotlight, they’ll tell you they wouldn’t be in the studio or out on stage if Colin wasn’t there with them step for step.
In other words, invaluable.
Currently, he’s a member of Blue Rodeo and The Jim Cuddy Band.
He’s played with and produced Crash Vegas and Junkhouse.
Produced and written with ex-wife Kathleen Edwards, Tom Wilson, Colin James, Headstones, Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams.
Many many more credits can be found online.
Speaking of online, Colin is a Guitar Geek and he lives in a World where other guitar geeks compare notes on guitars and gear.
They all speak another language ..about tone and bridges and strings and colors. They go crazy for colors.
Colin has some 40-50 guitars.
Each brings something different to music.
Colin takes us through the differences and who played what on which records.
Jeff Beck. Eric Clapton. Keith Richards. The Beatles. Elvis Costello. Metallica. Jimmy Page. Hank Marvin. Mark Knopfler. Cliff Gallop.
It’s time to Geek OUT !!
Colin talks about and shows/plays these guitars
1955 Fender Telecaster in Sunburst (Keith Richards. Jimmy Page)
1963 Fender Stratocaster in Fiesta Red (Hank Marvin. Jimi. Mark Knopfler)
1964 Gibson SG Standard in Cherry Red (Colin’s Fave)
1962 Epiphone Casino in Royal Tan (The Beatles made them famous)
1958 Fender Jazzmaster in Roman Red (Elvis Costello. Only 4 in this color)
1958 Gibson Explorer. The Holy Grail of originals. James Hatfield’s is worth 1M.
I could use some tunes to smooth out the bumps on this road I’m on.
How about YOU?
On July 18th, 1973 Bruce Springsteen played the first of four nights at Max’s Kansas City in New York City.
His opening act was smuggled into the country through Canada. Wait until you hear who opened for Bruce. It was their first gig ever in the USA. We’ll play some original audio from the night and then two songs you know them for.
While we’re thumbing through the music calendar
July 18, 1980 – at Cinema 1 in NYC – the first screening of No Nukes took place. We’re going to play the encore with the artists who made it all happen Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne.
Whitehorse
Neil Young at The Last Waltz
Joey Landreth
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Live
Tower of Power, Dave Alvin, John Mayer, The original Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel live at Yankee Stadium
Otis Redding, The Clash, John Prine Linda Ronstadt, BB King and Eric Clapton, Taj, Robbie Robertson, And a bunch more.
Two hours of music. Top to Bottom.
Turn it up and enjoy!!
Let the music smooth your road.
Up Ahead:
The Mulligan Stew Podcast is Colin Cripps
Guitarist for Blue Rodeo and The Jim Cuddy Band..and a collector of rare guitars.
He runs 7 of them by the Zoom cameras and gives you a little history of each.
If you’re a guitar geek – this is for you.
NEXT WEEK – We revisit special moments of past Calgary Folk Festivals.
Rathjen Cellars. Jim Cuddy Wines. Moon Curser, The Best Small Winery in Canada
THE SHOW
In addition to planting their own vineyard in 2016, Mike Rathjen leases five other established vineyards on the Saanich Peninsula, all of which provided grapes to former wineries in the area. Mike is honoured to work with some of the oldest vineyards on Vancouver Island and he’s excited with the quality of wine coming from these vines.
Mike Rathjen moved to Vancouver Island in 2011 with a passion for wine, farming and food culture. Over the next five years he honed his winemaking skills in his basement (AKA the ‘Wine Bunker’) while building relationships in the local farming community.
Together with his friend and business partner Colin Mann, Mike founded Rathjen Cellars in 2016 with a business model based off leased farmland and a focus on supporting the local food system.
Mike prefers the title ‘winegrower’—seeking to diminish the variable of winemaking to allow further exploration and expression of Vancouver Island as an emerging wine region.
Rathjen Cellars source all of their fruit from six vineyards on the Saanich Peninsula and two vineyards in the Cowichan Valley.
I’ve always been impressed with the wines I’ve tasted from Mike and I think you will be too! Tasting and talking about their Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir. Yum.
Chris Tolley – Co-Owner/Co-Winemaker Moon Curser Wines.
Moon Curser won the 2019 Wine Align Best Small performing Winery in Canada.
Chris TOLLEY
Moon Curser – Best Small Winery in Canada
At the end of the competition, the winery walked away with several medals led by a Platinum for its remarkable ode to the Douro Valley, the 2017 Touriga Nacional. They followed that up with six gold medals for a 2015 Tannat, think Uruguay; 2018 Dolcetto, that’s Italy; a 2017 Malbec, that’s Argentina; a 2017 Tempranillo, a nod to Spain; a 2017 Petit Verdot a classic from Bordeaux; and one final gold for a 2017 Dead of Night, a blend of Syrah and Tannat.
“Well, you get the picture, this is one very different producer, and in many ways, a poster child for what we always hoped would be the kind of innovative, family estate winery that would grab the title of the Best Performing Small Winery in Canada.
All that is left for you to do is try the wine and eventually visit the winery to experience what the Tolleys did when they first got into the business, something new and intriguing and most of all different.”
In 2006 they opened the doors to Moon Curser..except, at the time it was called Twisted Tree.
Rebranding brought the name Moon Curser.
The location has always been the same..very close to being the last winery in BC..right at the USA border.
I had already done an interview with Chris when the awards were handed out..so here’s the update from Chris and the whole interview before they won the award.
OK – are you safe and well? Washing the hands? Wearing the mouth thing?
Please take care..and be Kind!
Here’s the deal with The Stew this week…
We’ve been talking a lot lately.
Corb Lund
Eric Burton – Black Pumas
Barney Bentall and Jim Cuddy
Katherine MacLellan
Mike Plume
It’s time to let the music carry the day. So I put together a collection of Live Tunes and new albums.
The live tracks are from
The Stones – Maybe the best Live version of Tumbling Dice
Van Morrison – These dreams of you from Too Late To Stop Now
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Stir it UP – Live in London (Happy Birthday Bob)
David Bowie – Under Pressure from a new release Live in Dallas 95 (a refresh)
And that right there is the first 15 minutes of The Stew
Also have live tracks from
UB40
Paul Simon and Aaron Neville Bridge over trouble water at New Orleans Jazz Festival
The Chieftains and Roger Daltrey – Behind Blue Eyes
Michael Kaeshammer (with Colin James)
And to sweeten The Stew
Corb Lund – Harry Manx & Steve Mariner – Sass Jordan – Los Coast and Gary Clark Jr – Pearl Jam – Shovels and Rope – Mr Jimi -, New Old Neil Young – Aretha
and TWO Tracks from Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways
